The 110 Things New Yorkers Talked About in 2010
Top row from left: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, Associated Press, Barbara Kinney/European Pressphoto Agency, Adam Larkey/ABC; middle row: Strategic Perception Inc, via Associated Press, TBS, Via Associated Press, Tina Fineberg/Associated Press, Heidi Gutman/Bravo; bottom row: Blake Sell/Reuters, Carrie Schecter/Village Voice via Bloomberg, Ruby Washington/The New York Times, Tim Shaffer/Reuters
By STUART EMMRICH
Published: December 29, 2010
IT was a year in which the daughter of one president was married in a largely private ceremony on a gorgeous summer day and one in which the daughter of a possible future president went on a prime-time dance show to give “a big middle finger to all the people out there that hate my mom and hate me.”
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It was a year in which one political candidate threatened to punch out a member of the news media, another resigned from office because of “tickling” sessions with male staff members and a third coined the political rallying cry of the year: “The rent is too damn high.”
It was a year in which Gwyneth Paltrow went on “Glee” and all but erased the memories of the smug, unbearable scold she had evolved into in recent years, while Taylor Swift put Kanye West in his place, broke the heart of poor Taylor Lautner and, with her new romance with Jake Gyllenhaal, proved she was no kid anymore.
It was a year in which New Yorkers talked about these 110 things.
1. Bedbugs.
2. Pee-wee Herman’s comeback.
3. Larry King’s farewell.
4. The best campaign slogan of 2010: “I am not a witch.”
5. Ricky Martin comes out.
6. Steven Slater wigs out.
7. Four Loko, R.I.P.
8. Justin Bieber gets a new haircut.
9. There is no justice: Mondo loses to Gretchen on “Project Runway.”
10. Well, maybe there is: Bristol Palin finally is ousted on “Dancing With the Stars.”
11. The Sally Draper plotline on “Mad Men.”
12. Gwyneth Paltrow’s sudden charm offensive.
13. Caroline Giuliani, the daughter of Rudolph W. Giuliani, is arrested on shoplifting charges.
14. Anthony D. Marshall, the son of Brooke Astor, is convicted of stealing from and defrauding his mother.
15. Debrahlee Lorenzana’s allegation that she was fired from Citibank for being “too sexy.”
16. In September, Marty Peretz, editor in chief of The New Republic, writes on his blog that he wonders whether Muslims are “worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment.”
17. In December, Franklin Foer,editor of The New Republic, announces he is quitting.
18. Willow Smith, the daughter ofWill Smith, and her “Whip My Hair” video.
19. Jerry Seinfeld’s hilariously cranky “Why am I here?” appearance on Andy Cohen’s talk show.
20. Kanye’s Twitter posts.
21. The rebirth of Don Hill’s.
22. James Franco and Kalup Linzyperform at Webster Hall.
23. James Franco.
24. The Robert Rauschenberg retrospective at the Gagosian Gallery.
25. Chelsea Clinton marries a nice Jewish boy.
26. Julian Assange.
27. Steve Martin, in promoting his new novel set in the art world, talks about art. The audience is not amused.
28. Natalie and Benjamin.
29. Taylor and Jake.
30. The new Norman Foster-designed Sperone Westwater gallery on the Bowery.
31. Nail salons that serve alcohol.
32. Those damn vuvuzelas.
33. The iPad.
34. That Fran Lebowitz documentary on HBO.
35. Tina Brown.
36. Tina Fey.
37. Rex Ryan on his reported foot fetish: “It’s a personal matter.”
38. The kids — Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson — in “The Kids Are All Right.”
39. Patti Smith wins the National Book Award for “Just Kids.”
40. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, unlikely YouTube sensation.
41. Wills and Kate are engaged.
42. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens break up.
43. As do Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson.
44. The party of the year: Alexander Wang’s carnival-themed bash held in a parking lot under the High Line during New York Fashion Week.
45. Kellan Lutz’s Calvin Klein underwear ads.
46. The Dow’s 1,000-point plunge in May.
47. Sarah Palin and Kate Gosselin go camping. It does not go well.
48. Mark Madoff’s suicide.
49. The eerily predictive Madoff suicide plotline on “Damages.”
50. Columbia Business School has to remind its first-year students to brush their teeth and use deodorant before a job interview.
51. Charlie Sheen enters “pre-hab,” and a term is coined.
52. Charlie Sheen trashes a hotel room. Back to plain old rehab?
53. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is repealed.
54. Jimmy Carter says he thinks the country is ready for a gay president.
55. Oh, the irony: Gawker is hacked.
56. Anna Wintour’s girl crush on Blake Lively.
57. In his author video to promote “Freedom,” Jonathan Franzen complains about author videos.
58. Page Six’s Richard Johnson leaves for Los Angeles.
59. So does Jeffrey Deitch.
60. Dina Lohan thinks her daughter Lindsay should move to New York.
61. “Defriend” and “BFF” enter the Oxford American Dictionary.
62. Sandra Bullock’s Oscar.
63. Sandra Bullock’s divorce.
64. The sheer awfulness of “The A-List.”
65. Marc Jacobs starts his September runway show at the Armory exactly on time, leaving stranded outside in the rain hundreds of people who had gotten too used to “Marc time.”
66. Marc Jacobs’s ex-boyfriend on “The A-List.”
67. The valedictorian of this year’s graduating class at Columbia University plagiarized part of his speech from a YouTube video posted by the comedian Patton Oswalt.
68. Conan O’Brien returns to late-night TV. No one notices.
69. Bernadette Peters in “A Little Night Music.”
70. The increasingly scary body count in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
71. Elizabeth Edwards.
72. Tipper and Al’s divorce.
73. Amar’e Stoudemire, man about town.
74. George Steinbrenner dies and still is not elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
75. Five Columbia University students are arrested on charges of selling an array of drugs at several fraternity houses and other campus residences.
76. Gary Shteyngart’s “Super Sad True Love Story.”
77. The murder at Soho House.
78. Brad Goreski leaves the Rachel Zoe nest.
79. Marina Abramovic.
80. Carl Paladino’s campaign for governor: The gift that kept on giving.
81. New York Fashion Week’s move to Lincoln Center.
82. Mika and Joe.
83. Justin Timberlake in “The Social Network.”
84. The “Ring” malfunction at the Met.
85. Roger Stone in “Client 9.”
86. A writer for Marie Claire sets off a Web firestorm when she blogs she was “grossed out” by the overweight characters on “Mike & Molly.”
87. Cathie Black.
88. That ghost stroller in Park Slope.
89. Gregg Allman returns to the Beacon Theater.
90. John Boehner’s tears.
91. Kim Kardashian flaunts her assets in W.
92. A Columbia University professor is accused of having a consensual incestuous affair with his 24-year-old daughter. Columbia is having quite the year.
93. Anderson Cooper finally gets to meet NeNe Leakes. He seems the more star-struck of the two.
94. The KFC Double Down sandwich.
95. Lady Gaga’s meat dress.
96. Derek Jeter stays with the Yankees.
97. Cliff Lee goes to the Phillies.
98. In “A Piece of Work,” Joan Rivers reminds us how funny she still is.
99. That “rent is too damn high” guy.
100. The never-ending downtown mosque controversy.
101. Naomi Campbell testifies in the “blood diamonds” trial of Charles Taylor.
102. Lanvin comes to Madison Avenue.
103. Barneys Co-Op goes to Brooklyn.
104. The new divorce site on Huffington Post.
105. Eric Massa’s Navy years suggest a whole new meaning to the term “snorkeling.”
106. The Brett Favre “sexting” controversy.
107. Eliot Spitzer and Kathleen Parker. Train wreck.
108. Courtney Love.
109. “I would like my life back.”
110. End of an era: Elaine Kaufman dies.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 30, 2010
An earlier version of this article misspelled Kellan Lutz’s given name as Kellen.
